Meade State Park is located in the High Plains of southwest Kansas,
just west of the Red Hills. The state park and wildlife area comprise
803 acres of land and water. The dam at Meade State Fishing Lake was
built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
This site was chosen for the lake because of numerous springs in the
area; a fault east of the lake has created artesian conditions in this
part of Meade County. A test well drilled near the lake in 1939 had
an artesian head of 17.4 feet—that is, water rose under its own
pressure in a pipe that far above the land surface. Today, because irrigation
has lowered the water table, flow from the springs and flowing artesian
wells has diminished or stopped altogether. A flowing artesian well
in the park (photo) just west of the lake flows at a rate of about 5
gallon per minute. Meade State Park is located eight miles south and
five miles west of Meade on Kansas Highway 23. For more information,
contact the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks, Box K, Meade, KS 67864-9801
(620/873-2572).

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